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$Billion-Dollar Branding

HONEY PARKER BLAINE PARKER&

Some Really Dangerous Exercises Designed To Build Your Brand For World Domination

The Workbook

BILLION-DOLLAR BRANDING:

THE WORKBOOK

Some Really Dangerous Exercises Designed To

Build Your Brand For World Domination

by

Blaine Parker & Honey Parker

Billion-Dollar Branding: The Workbook

1

Copyright © 2012 by Blaine Parker & Honey Parker

All Rights Reserved


2

EXERCISE 1

THE FIRST STEP TO SOLVING THE PROBLEM WITH BRAND

As you now know, brand is not a color, a logo, a font or any other technical detail

about a company’s image. Brand is your company’s personality defined. It must

make the customer feel something significant about your business. Key in this

equation is emotion, as people make their buying decisions emotionally. They will

justify a purchase intellectually—but emotion leads them to action.

It’s possible you already consider your business to be branded. How do you define

your business’s brand?

At present, my brand is:

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Does this brand seem consistent with the requirement that you convey one, single

emotion to your prospect?

Yes______ No______

If you answered “no,” you are not alone. You are in an enormous club that includes

all kinds of business owners and advertising professionals. If you answered “yes,”


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you might be (a) mistaken, (b) kidding yourself, or (c) utterly not in need of this

book. But let’s assume you went with “no.” The reason we are here is to get you to

that place where you know what your customer should feel about your business.


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EXERCISE 2

WHAT IS BRAND REALLY ALL ABOUT?

Simply put: Brand is the ONE way your customer should feel about your business.

If a brand has been properly defined, it’s difficult to NOT feel something about it.

Consider three brands that you truly admire, brands that stick with you and get

under your skin. They can be big national brands, or small local businesses. The

only requirement is that they stick with you and make you feel something.

What are the three brands that you admire?

Brand 1.________________________________________________

Brand 2.________________________________________________

Brand 3.________________________________________________

Do you happen to know the tag line for each of these brands, if they have one?

Tag line 1:____________________________________________________________________

Tag line 2:____________________________________________________________________

Tag line 3:____________________________________________________________________


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What do each of these brands mean to you, personally? What is each one about?

1.____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

2.____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

3.____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

Now, describe the feeling associated with each of these brands. We’re talking

specifically about emotions. Value propositions, USPs, tag lines, all those things are

part of the brand—but they are intellectual elements. They aren’t emotions.

Emotional propositions are distinctly different from intellectual propositions. To

borrow from Dictionary.com, they are “an affective state of consciousness in

which joy, sorrow, fear, hate, or the like, is experienced, as distinguished from

cognitive and volitional states of consciousness.” Which is all a fancy way of saying

you gotta feel it, not think it. Example: The feeling typically associated with the

Coca-Cola brand is happiness. So, what do your three favorite brands make

you feel?

1.____________________________________________________________________________

2.____________________________________________________________________________

3.____________________________________________________________________________


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Why does each of these brands affect you that way? What is it about them that is

emotionally evocative for you?

1.____________________________________________________________________________

2.____________________________________________________________________________

3.____________________________________________________________________________

How is that feeling conveyed to you before the purchase?

1.____________________________________________________________________________

2.____________________________________________________________________________

3.____________________________________________________________________________

During the purchase?

1.____________________________________________________________________________

2.____________________________________________________________________________

3.____________________________________________________________________________

After the purchase?

1.____________________________________________________________________________

2.____________________________________________________________________________

3.____________________________________________________________________________


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This comprehensive examination of brands you admire is valuable. As you know,

modeling the behavior of successful people is a recipe for success. There’s no reason

why brand should be any different. If you can look at a brand you admire and model

what’s appropriate for your own business, you’re way ahead of your competitors.


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EXERCISE 3

GO AHEAD, ALIENATE ME

In the effort to make people feel something, a good brand can often be polarizing. If

you look at McDonald’s, they focus on the “happy” meal. But Carl’s Jr. / Hardee’s

focuses on a decadent burger experience. Mom is taking the kids to McDonald’s.

She’s not interested in a place where, “If it doesn’t get all over the place, it doesn’t

belong in your face.” Similarly, Southwest Airlines puts the “luv” in low-cost air

travel—but they definitely make the high-end business traveler want to stay away.

The eHarmony brand is great for people interested in a committed relationship

based on the “deepest levels of compatibility.” It will not appeal to people who are

interested in simply “hooking up.”

In an increasingly fragmented media environment, a strong and even polarizing

brand is more important than ever. Consider three brands that you don’t like at all.

If it’s possible, think about three successful brands that you hate. Who are they?

1.____________________________________________________________________________

2.____________________________________________________________________________

3.____________________________________________________________________________

Chances are, you don’t like these brands because they create a feeling that is

outside of your zone as a consumer. What specifically do you hate about these

brands?

Brand 1 makes me feel:________________________________________________________




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Understanding successful brands that you actively dislike offers a couple of things.

One, it illustrates how good brands are not necessarily for everyone. And two, it

helps avoid any fear that not everyone is going to like you. And understand, this

isn’t a suggestion that you go out with the goal of alienating people. Once upon a

time, there was a client who wanted to use a patently offensive and ignorant

argument about a certain class of people in order to win customers to his cause.

That’s a bad idea. But being for something that doesn’t necessarily appeal to

everyone can be a positive. It probably means that you’re more definitely for the

audience who cares about you.


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EXERCISE 4

THE ONE-MAN BRAND

Branding is not just for advertising or for companies. It’s for any individual who

wants to have a successful, high-profile presence. Case in point: successful

comedians are an excellent example of branded individuals. A successful comedian

is not actually the person you see onstage. What you see onstage is a highly

concentrated persona developed from a sliver of his or her actual personality. And

each comedian makes you feel something specific about his brand. Anything that

doesn’t feed the brand is left out. Jeff Foxworthy’s “You Might Be A Redneck If…”

brand leaves out his background as a professional computer geek. Lisa Lampanelli’s

“Queen of Mean” brand leaves out her Harvard education. And both of these brands

are wildly successful—without any of the presumed components of brand, like a

font, a color or a logo. And they are unafraid of alienating someone who is not in the

target demographic. One person alone with a solidly crafted brand greatly improves

his or her odds of success.

Write down the names of three performers you recognize and are possibly attracted

to because of what they specifically represent. They can be comedians or musicians

or actors.

1.____________________________________________________________________________

2.____________________________________________________________________________

3.____________________________________________________________________________


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What do each of these three personal brands represent to you? What do they make

you feel?




Even if you’re not a sole proprietor, this exercise is useful because it is so much

about the importance of identifying singularity of brand and purpose and emotional

resonance. Comedians are a good example because they traffic in emotion. And if

you are a sole proprietor, this provides an object lesson in the idea of having an

evocative brand persona.


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EXERCISE 5

THE POWER OF ONE

The more you try to say with your brand, the more likely your brand will fail. Each

of us can focus on only one thing at a time. Give someone too much information with

your brand, and they don’t know what you stand for. Accordingly, it’s incumbent

upon you to show your customer the one thing—the right thing—to focus on. One

brand concept, conveyed concisely, can be the difference between a prospect feeling

nothing, and feeling something that matters. The Power Of One is part of what has

made Roto-Rooter a household name for over 50 years—despite it being an

unglamorous business model that nobody ever really wants to use. And don’t

confuse the power of the true one thing that matters to your customer with what you

think matters to your customer—or, worse, what matters to you personally. Your

one thing must honor your customer.

Think about three strong, national brands and each’s The Power Of One. What is it?

The Brand:____________________ Their One:_____________________________________



Now, closer to home, how about local businesses near you? Do you know any local

businesses—or better yet, your direct competitors—who have successfully exercised

The Power Of One in their brand?





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Think about your powerful One. You could probably choose several. Write down as

many as five options.

1.____________________________________________________________________________

2.____________________________________________________________________________

3.____________________________________________________________________________

4.____________________________________________________________________________

5.____________________________________________________________________________

Now, as you already know, you can have only one of these. You have to choose one.

You have 5 seconds. Ready? Go!

______________________________________________________________________________

Time pressure is a magnificent thing. It can force good choices. Congratulations. You now know

your one thing.


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EXERCISE 6

BRAND, RINSE, REPEAT

Relentless consistency is vital to the success of a brand. Whether using traditional

or non-traditional advertising and marketing, being consistent in presenting your

brand is key. Yes, it is possible to have quick, flash-in-the-pan successes without

consistency—and even without a brand. But a consistent brand is what feeds true,

long-term success. And building a brand in the mind of your customer never

happens overnight. It takes time—which is why consistency is so important.

Consistency in the brand/customer relationship is what builds friendship between

the brand and the customer. And an essential ingredient of consistency is honesty,

because you can’t fake it for long. People eventually figure it out. Being consistently

honest is much easier than being consistently fake. Consistency of brand goes way

beyond the advertising and must extend into the workplace and the typical

customer experience every day. Can we possibly say it enough? Relentless

consistency is vital to the success of a brand.

Think of three brands that are impactful because of their consistency. They’ve been

out there and in your face on a regular basis to the point that, even if you’d never

patronize them, you know exactly who they are and what they stand for. (Travelers

who’d never, ever stay at a Motel 6 still know that they are the budget motel that

leaves the light on for you.)

Brand 1.________________________________________________

Brand 2.________________________________________________

Brand 3.________________________________________________


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How are each of these brands consistent? What is it that they say and do that

makes you truly believe in the validity of what they promise?

Brand 1._____________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Brand 2._____________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Brand 3._____________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________


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What are three local brands—or direct competitors of yours—that have opted for

this kind of brand consistency?

Brand 1.________________________________________________

Brand 2.________________________________________________

Brand 3.________________________________________________

How are each of these three smaller brands honest and resonant, either for you or

for people you know? How are they consistent? What is it that they say and do that

makes one truly believe?

Brand 1._____________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Brand 2._____________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________


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Brand 3._____________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Identifying and understanding relentless consistency is important. You yourself are

going to have to become a relentless purveyor of your brand message.

Understanding it and knowing how to implement it are vital skills in your brand

equation.


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EXERCISE 7

FIRING UP THE SMALL BUSINESS BRAND

Defining a small business brand requires understanding why you do what you do,

way down to your very core. It also requires deeply knowing and understanding

your core customer. Defining your brand requires standing apart from a crowd of

me-too competitors, whether in the local neighborhood or in the vast online

environment. Just slapping together things that “kinda look and sound like a

brand” doesn’t work. For example, the difference between the brands for United Eye

Care Specialists and Dr. Sam’s Eye Care is the difference between looking like a

giant, faceless corporation that doesn’t know or care about anyone, and a personable

country doctor who is deeply concerned about what Mom thinks. The difference

between Ooh La La, the salon adrift, and Ooh La La the fun, hip salon that’s about

“Love, Truth, Hair” is the difference between a salon with no real identity, and a

salon that knows who it is, why it is the way it is, and why you should come on in

and trust them with your hair. The difference between Coastal Cyberknife and One

to One Cancer Treatment Center is the difference between merely talking about the

equipment and focusing specifically and personally on the patient. The most

important person to consider in any branding effort is the customer—that’s who the

brand is ultimately all about.

Think of three brands, whether local or global, where you have no doubt the

company is all about you.

Brand 1.________________________________________________

Brand 2.________________________________________________

Brand 3.________________________________________________


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How do these companies make you feel about doing business with them, versus

doing business with a brand where there is no customer focus—or worse, when the

brand feels anti-customer?

Brand 1._____________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Brand 2._____________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Brand 3._____________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________


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Understanding the feeling conveyed by these brands is essential. Ultimately, you

want to be modeling smart, customer-centric brand behavior in your own business.


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EXERCISE 8

HARD WORK, FEAR & LOATHING

Building a solid brand is rarely easy. Typically, it takes work and it takes time.

We’re trying to make it much e3asier for you. But, if a brand ever does materialize

spontaneously, and it’s obviously right, embrace it. And all during the process,

beware Fear & Ego. They can derail all your branding efforts. Ego will tell you that

the rules don’t apply to you, which is wrong. Fear will tell you the rules can’t

possibly work, which is also wrong. Fear can also make you squirrely and prevent

any kind of commitment. Decisions made from a place of fear are always bad

decisions. Decisions made from a place of misguided ego are always bad decisions.

Be brave and self-aware enough to recognize who you are, who your customer is,

and where the intersection lies. If fear intrudes, feel it freely—and move forward in

spite of it. When it’s the right kind of fear, you’ll know.

Think about the times when ego has intruded upon your life decisions. Are there

any times where your obviously superior ego influenced a decision—only to backfire

on you and leave you looking like the victim of an exploding cigar? What exactly

happened, and how did it leave you feeling?

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________


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How about fear? Think about any instances where you were mortified to move

forward—but went ahead anyway, only to find the rewards to be extraordinary.

What if you’d listened to the fear instead?

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Keep these instances in mind. They are excellent barmoeters as you embark on your

journey down the road to your own brand. There will always be fear. There will

always be ego. Knowing how to deal with them based on past experience is an

incredibly useful tool.


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EXERCISE 9

BRAND: TO THINE OWN SELF BE TRUE

Be completely candid and honest: who are you, relative to your business? Your

values, your ethics, your attitude and your philosophies about business are all key

factors in your brand—though not necessarily THE brand. How do you want to

honor and serve your customer? How does what you love doing matter? Is there

anything about your personal story that informs your brand? What kind of a person

are you? These questions all matter. You’re directly trying to avoid being a “Me Too”

brand, which is essentially a business version of someone’s annoying little brother.

You are obligated to stake out a territory that’s different from your competitors.

Like Folger’s “Richer Because It’s Mountain Grown” coffee, claim a difference even

if that difference is a common but otherwise unknown quantity for customers. You

must be authentic. It’s difficult to commit to fakery, to try being someone you’re not.

And customers can see through that. (Also, beware fear & ego, which often loom

through this process.)

Think about three brands you know that you would consider to be “Me Too”

brands—businesses whose identities aren’t linked to anything honest, but are

merely aping the competition. Hint: they’re probably local, and you probably don’t

have a lot of respect for them.

Brand 1.________________________________________________

Brand 2.________________________________________________

Brand 3.________________________________________________


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Now, think about three brands that you would consider authentic reflections of the

person at the top.

Brand 1.________________________________________________

Brand 2.________________________________________________

Brand 3.________________________________________________

How do you feel about those brands? Are there any cues you can take from these

three businesses in building your own brand?

Brand 1._____________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Brand 2._____________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Brand 3._____________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

While you don’t have to be out in front of your brand, like Sir Richard Branson or

Jenny Craig, your true self is going to inform everything about the behavior of the

business. Knowing yourself and infusing your brand accordingly is useful in

creating an honest, resonant image for the public.


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EXERCISE 10

WHO’S BUYING YOU?

Who is your single core customer, and what is he or she all about? In defining your

core customer, it’s helpful to use Trader Joe’s as a model: their core customer is an

“unemployed college professor who drives a very, very used Volvo.” It helps them

make all kinds of decisions about the business. Now, defining your core customer

does not prevent other people from patronizing you, any more than people who

aren’t unemployed college professors are prevented from shopping at Trader Joe’s.

Defining your core customer merely helps make your business more authentic. So,

what is your core customer’s single biggest fear about buying what you sell? How

does your brand meet and address that fear—without flat out saying, “We know

you’re scared of this.” Is the fear about an issue of deep consequence, or is it a minor

or even insignificant fear? Where is your core customer’s joy relative to what you

sell? Is your core customer’s joy a minor joy, like enjoying a burger? Or is it a life-

changing joy, like surviving cancer? Understanding fears & joys is essential—they

are emotions linked to your brand, and emotions (not facts) are what motivate

people to act.

Who is your core customer?

Name___________________ Age______ Sex______

Occupation_____________________________ Education_______________________

Income__________________ Marital Status_______ No. of Children_________

Any other significant details___________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________


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Write a brief bio about this person:_____________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

What problem does this person have that you can solve?

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

What fears does this person harbor about buying what you sell?

____________________________________ ____________________________________

____________________________________ ____________________________________

____________________________________ ____________________________________

What potential joys can this person experience by buying from you?

____________________________________ ____________________________________

____________________________________ ____________________________________

____________________________________ ____________________________________

Knowing all this, define your core customer in one line, 10 words or less. (It often

helps to start by calling this person Mr. or Ms…)

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________


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Knowing this person and their fears and joys changes how you market to them.

Roto-Rooter makes bank on the fear of clogged drains, on the lady of the house not

knowing what plumber to call, and the joy of having that trouble go away down the

drain.


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EXERCISE 11

FEAR & JOY AT THE INTERSECTION OF BRAND

Fear is a motivator—or a de-motivator. Fear can prevent a prospect from acting and

becoming your customer. Part of the job of a brand is to help prospects feel

comfortable and get past the fear. These means knowing why what you love doing

matters to your customer. You also have to know how to get your prospect past their

fear of acting. And you have to know how you want your customer to feel when

leaving your business. Your brand has to, in part, make a promise to the customer

that his or her life will be better. A weak brand can inspire doubt and lack of action

on the part of a prospect. If a weak brand makes the prospect feel nothing, he’s

likely to do nothing. Between the loyal customer and the prospect, there is a full

spectrum of fears about purchasing decisions—from insignificant fears to truly life

altering conditions. Fear of buying the wrong hamburger is a very low-grade fear

and will not change anyone’s life—but should be considered in determining the

brand. Fear of choosing the wrong cancer doctor relates to a matter of life and

death—and is an absolutely essential consideration in determining the brand.

Feeling their fear and your joy, and successfully finding the intersection, can result

in a resonant brand.

Think of three brands that you find really attractive—brands that not only appear

solid, but actually make you want to participate. Example: the eHarmony brand is

so strong, it makes some people think, “Gosh, if I were single again…” What are the

three attractive brands for you—local or national or even a direct competitor?

Brand 1.________________________________________________

Brand 2.________________________________________________

Brand 3.________________________________________________


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What is it about these three brands that is inviting? What is it that makes them

speak to you, and put aside any possible fears you might have about patronizing

these businesses—or, perhaps, has made you use them?

Brand 1._____________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Brand 2._____________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Brand 3._____________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

By understanding how other brands welcome newbies and make them feel

comfortable, you can begin thinking about how it is your brand is going to do

something similar.


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EXERCISE 12

ONCE UPON A BRAND

As a human being, you are hard-wired for stories—and story should be at the core of

your brand. Frequently, an indelible brand is built upon the business founder’s

personal story. Ideally, your brand story concerns why you do what you do, and your

difference. Regardless of whether you sell widgets or save lives, you have stories

about why and how you do what you do. You have anecdotes about customers you’ve

served and served well. You have tales about your ideal day at work. These potent

and important stories inform your brand. Because he was shown the epic power of

the story told in 25 simple words in John 3:16, a loquacious Bill Clinton learned the

power of the sound bite and was eventually elected to the nation’s most powerful

office. Story can change the world.

You have a reason why you went into your business. You have experiences that

capture the essence of your reason for being. You have customers whose experiences

that typify what you love about your work. If you could tell only one story about

your business, what would it be?

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________


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______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

What does this story say about you and the way you approach your business?

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

How did this episode make you feel?

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

How did it make the customer feel?

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________


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Stories like these help you find the essence of the brand. At Slow Burn Marketing,

before we ever embark on a new branding effort for a client, we spend hours talking

to the client about matters exactly like this. The stories and the feelings associated

with them help define the brand.


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EXERCISE 13

FROM DEFINING TO REFINING

This is a mega exercise. It has many parts. Maple syrup is made by a process of

sugaring down. This process involves boiling down sap from maple trees into maple

syrup at a 50:1 ratio. Taking what you know about your business and distilling it

into a brand is an intellectual sugaring down process. In “sugaring down” your

brand, you’re requires to start writing about your business. Don’t be judgmental

about what you write, merely let the information flow and edit it later. By writing

down even hare-brained ideas, you can often come up with gold. And know that it’s

possible to write down a hundred potential names and thousands of words before

hitting on The One Brand. One of the most difficult tasks we’ve ever undertaken at

Slow Burn, even harder than branding our own ad agency, is branding a software

development company. (One of the names Blaine wrote down was “clavicle.” Why?

Because it was there.) We literally went through hundreds if not thousands of

names before hitting on options that, one, weren’t already taken and, two,

accurately reflected the personality of the founder.

Getting to The One Brand is not pretty, but is entirely necessary—which is why you

need to write without judging anything too early. Once you believe you’ve hit on The

One Brand, due diligence is necessary—it might seem like genius, but you also

might not be the first.

You’re also required to know all of the elements of your brand: to whom you’re

speaking, how you’re speaking to them, what your tag line is, and what you want

your customer to feel about your brand. And no matter how hare-brained it may

seem, always pay attention to something that’s so sticky, it won’t let go of your

psyche.


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Use the next few pages to begin writing down stories about you and your business.

We’ll be taking these stories, along with some of your answers to earlier questions,

and using them to distill your brand.

How did you get into this business? Tell the story, beginning with “Once upon a

time…”

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

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You’ve explained how you got into this. WHY did you get into it? What’s the

motivation deep down in your soul?

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

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Who are your three favorite customers and why? Talk about what makes them

resonate with you.

Customer 1.__________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Customer 2.__________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Customer 3.__________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

What’s a really good day at work? What kind of day makes you say, “Man, that was

good. I wish every day could be like that.”

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________


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Go back and review your answers in this section. Additionally, go back to Exercise

12 and review those answers. Has a pattern or a common theme made itself

apparent here? If you had to pick only one single story to represent how and why

you do business, which one would it be? Retell that story and the feelings associated

with it in no more than 25 words.

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Now, look at what you just wrote. What is the essence of that? Think about it, and

write a single sentence, ten words or less, that captures the essence of your business

and what you do for your customer.

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Congratulations. What you’ve written might not be perfect. It might require

refining. You might even want to throw it out and write it all over again. But if

you’ve captured the essence of your business and what you do for the customer, you

have something few businesses have: a Mission Statement. (Most businesses who

think they have a Mission Statement actually have an essay of no use to anybody.)


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EXERCISE 14

WHAT’S IN A NAME?

It’s possible you have a company name that works just fine. But it’s also highly

likely, especially if you’re just starting out, you still need one. Or, if you’re like

various Slow Burn Marketing clients, you have a name that you feel is lacking. You

want a name that better represents who you are and what you do.

Think about what you want to convey to people. What you want them to feel. Then,

just start writing down possible names. Make words up if you feel like it. Don’t

judge. This is how we got to a one-word company name that didn’t seem to make

any sense on the face of it, but “Salt” has become part of a brand that doubled a

consultant’s client base in six months. Be silly if you want. But just start writing.

Don’t stop until you get to at least 100.

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Phew. OK. That was a lot of work. Go back and review that list. Find 10 names that

you think have potential and write them down here.

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OK, that’s your short list. Now, you get to pare it down to three. Those three names

are names you feel like you could live with for a long time. Pretend it’s going to be

on a T-shirt you have to wear every day. If you had it tattooed on your chest, you

wouldn’t mind. Which three names could you live with proudly and forever?

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Time to pick your favorite. Take that name, and go to the internet and start your

due diligence. Make sure there are no conflicts in your category and/or your

geography. If you and your lawyer are convinced this name is OK, is it something

that will resonate with your core customer? Or do you need to go back to the list?

Work on this one. It’s important.


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EXERCISE 15

TAG, YOU’RE IT

Your tag line should be infused with meaning. It helps people get an idea of why

you matter. Motel 6: “We’ll leave the light on for you.” It’s a callback to their

friendly, homespun nature as a budget motel. Avis: “We try harder.” It’s a callback

to their #2 position as a car rental agency, and how they have to do a better job than

#1. Dr. Sam’s Eye Care: “Straight talk. Better vision.” It’s a callback to Dr. Sam’s

plainspoken, regular-guy approach to the best possible eye care. Senior Edge Legal:

“It’s your turn.” It’s a callback to their mission of helping you enjoy your golden

years free from the stress and worry of uncertainty. Your tag line helps cement your

brand in the mind of the prospect. It also has to be short. It can’t be 20 words long,

have two commas and a “but” in the middle. Of the four tag lines just mentioned,

the longest one is seven words—a veritable novel in the world of tag lines. But it

works because it’s succinct, it’s potent, and it’s imagistic. And like all of the other

tag lines, it offers a subtext of benefit to the customer.

Get your pen ready again. It’s time to start writing tag lines. And once again, write

without judgment. Try not to be too clinical. Don’t write, “For all your widget

needs!” and think you’re done. You need to push. Feel free to write nonsense.

Nonsense can lead to brilliance. Try to write one tag line per line on the page.

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So, whadda ya think? If you filled up every line, you should have 70 possible tag

lines. Some of them stink and you know it. Others are OK. And a couple are real

gems. Possibly diamonds in the rough. But you know they’re good. Take the five

best and write them below. Feel free to refine them if necessary. If you think you

can find more music in them, feel free. No doubt, some copywriter was writing

things like “Save more on your home improvement so you can do more projects” and

“Home improvement costs less so you can do more” before finally hitting on Home

Depot’s “More saving. More Doing.” So, write your five best tag lines below.

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Of those five, there has to be one that’s a winner. Pick that winner. Write it below.

See if you can write the same line three different ways to give it more impact.

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Have you got your tag line yet? Keep writing if you feel the need. It’s never over ‘til

it’s over…


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EXERCISE 16

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

This is going to be the “Branding Lite” version of a document that we create for all

of our clients. This brief is going to help solidify your brand for you—and more

importantly, for your employees. We’re going to cull some of the information from

previous exercises and use it here.

From Exercise 14, write down your company name:______________________________

From Exercise 15, write down your tag line:_____________________________________

From Exercise 13, write down your mission statement:

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From Exercise 10, write down the definition of your core customer:

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From Exercise 10, write down your core customer’s problem:

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From Exercise 10, write down the specific joy you want your core customer to feel:

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From Exercise 5, write down the one thing you want to be known for:

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You now have all of the important details in one place, assembled in an easy-to-

digest fashion. You can assemble this all on one sheet (see Appendix A), and use it

as a guiding light for your business. Use it to remind yourself, and anyone who

works for you, what it’s all about. You can also use this as a brief to inform anyone

who does work for you, like a graphic designer who’s creating your logo, or a radio

station account rep who’s creating radio commercials for your business.

And if this final branding document seems very short, consider this: Bill Clinton, a

good Southern Baptist, realized that the entire basis for Christianity was

compressed into the 25 words (King James version) of John 3:16. The Gettysburg

Address, one of the single most significant speeches in American history, was only

271 words long and was written on the back of an envelope. One of the single most

potent lines ever written in American advertising is only three words, comprised of

a mere eight letters: “Just do it.” True potency has little to do with length. It has

everything to do with what you put into it.

Congratulations. You have ventued into a realm of small business branding that

most business owners never reach. Use this as a springboard to greatness.

Go forth. Brand with confidence. Feel the joy. Cash in. Change lives.


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APPENDIX

BRANDING BRIEF TEMPLATE

Company Name:

Tag Line:

Mission Statement:

Core Customer:

The Customer’s Problem:

How The Customer Should Feel:

The One Thing We Want To Be Known For:

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